Due to frustrations with the selling process, 43% of homeowners will change their estate agent at least once, and of those who don’t switch, 24% would use a different agent in the future.
When one of your properties isn’t doing as well as the customer had expected, it’s important that you have measures in place to keep them happy, and here are our suggestions on what they might be…
Managing expectations
The first step to keeping your sellers happy is managing expectations, which includes setting realistic appraisal prices and timescales.
Last year, a study conducted by Which? revealed that agents who “routinely overvalue properties” are costing sellers as much as £4.3 billion.
In their report, they found that one in five (19%) properties had to be reduced by at least 5% to sell, potentially leaving sellers £20,000 worse off and adding an additional 64 days to the time spent on the market.
Of course, only a minority of businesses apply practices such as these, but in a post-GDPR age, it’s crucial that you maintain fee transparency to gain and retain consumer confidence.
Aside from price considerations, you should also ensure that your customers know what to expect from your agency in terms of support, which may include: “how to…” guides, blogs on the various stages of selling, and information on who to contact within your team.
Seven out of ten consumers who have experienced bad customer service blame the fact that they had to explain the issue to multiple employees, whilst 32% would switch brands for that reason.
By making it clear which of your agents will be looking after them, you’ll build effective customer relationships with your sellers.
Increase exposure of your listings
A collapsed property sale comes at a hefty price to Brits, with more than 300,000 transactions collapsing every year, costing each seller approximately £2,727 on pointless legal costs.
As a result, 58% of consumers are reportedly put off from selling altogether, stating that the risks are too high.
You need to mitigate these concerns and provide them with an effective plan of action. By increasing the exposure of your properties through E-Zines and hot property emails, you can keep your vendors happy, as you track levels of buyer interest and qualify leads.
Open communication
In 2017, more than half (60%) of the sales complaints submitted to The Property Ombudsman were from sellers, with lower numbers seen from buyers (34%) and third-parties or charities (6%).
The most common complaint received related to miscommunication, so when things go wrong, you need to make sure you quickly address the situation and carry out damage control – regardless of where the issue stemmed from.
Once an offer has been made, 46% of sellers are concerned that the buyer will change their mind, and in 69% of cases, that concern is justified with the collapse coming from the buyers’ side.
By facilitating open communication, you’ll ensure that everyone’s kept on the same page – even if those communications are automated and simply intended to touch base with your sellers and buyers between key milestones.
Follow-up with leads
You spend your days contacting your buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants, but how often do new enquiries go unanswered and for how long?
Well, according to one study, agents take up to seven working hours to respond to an email lead, with a third still waiting for a response after two working days.
Failing to follow-up with prospects in a timely manner will result in your properties spending longer than necessary on the market, as your sellers become more impatient and more likely to look elsewhere.
Approximately 40% of all portal leads will not receive a response, resulting in a number of lost opportunities for your vendors.
Provide value in unexpected ways
When asked which life event is the most stressful, 70% of respondents opted for selling a house, which came second, just behind getting a divorce. These were then followed by having a child (53%), changing jobs (49%) and getting married (40%).
To prove just how valuable your business is to your customers, share your local market expertise and promote your additional services and third-party providers.
A lot of homeowners won’t know the first thing about selling, so to get them onboard with your brand and help them increase their property’s value, advise them on a few simple changes.